the next morning, everyone was quiet. Hershel told the group he saw a few walkers close to camp, and Rick sent a few people.
"Dale. Dale could get under your skin."
Shane and Andrea sat in the front seats as Daryl, Dallas, and T-Dog sat in the trucks back part. nobody spoke as they drove.
"he sure got under mine."
Daryl kept his gaze on the passing trees. Dallas couldn't get the image of Dale out of his head; his stomach just absolutely torn open with no remorse.
"because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought."
the way he smiled at Daryl, reassuring him it was alright. that he was ready.
"how he felt."
Rick stood over the freshly dug grave, hat in his hands. everyone had come to the, what you could call, funeral.
the sun was setting.
Shane tested the gate, making sure there were no weak points. everyone hopped out of the car behind him.
"whenever i'd made a decision, i'd look to Dale. he'd be looking back at me with that look he had."
Glenn kept his gaze low, grief clear on his face. when Rick mentioned 'that look', Dallas saw him briefly look up.
"we've all seen it one time or another."
Andrea had her gaze on the makeshift grave. she clenched her jaw in the attempt to stop herself from crying.
Daryl led the small group. Dallas trailed behind everyone, scanning around for walkers.
"i couldn't always read him. but he could read us."
Daryl whistled and pointed in a direction.
"saw people for who they were. knew things about us, the truth."
Daryl glanced at Carol, who was solemnly looking down. her gaze was no longer the pain stricken one, like she had when Sophia died.
no, Carol looked broken.
"who we really are. in the end, he was talking about losing our humanity."
Everyone followed, and soon enough, came to a field.
"said this group is broken."
Daryl was the first to hop out of the truck. Dallas and T-Dog followed. Shane and Andrea stepped out from the front.
there were three of them eating what seemed to be a cow. a female one had strayed away, and upon seeing everyone, started to walk their way. she stumbled and reached in the air to grab for something.
Daryl shot her.
"the best way to honor him is to un-break. set aside our differences, and pull together. stop feeling sorry for ourselves."
he shot another as the other three stood and drew near. T-Dog hit one upside the head with a bat, and Andrea used the pitchfork to stab another.
Daryl shot one of the ones left at the cow. Shane hit one with his shovel, sending it backwards.
"take control of our lives. our safety. our future. we're not broken."
Andrea ran up and killed one.
Shane tripped one, but instead of driving the shovel into its skull, started beating on it. he kicked it twice before Andrea joined him.
as the Daryl and Dallas joined, he stepped back. Shane watched them all beat on it for a minute, it's growling becoming more intense as it tried to grab onto one of them.
